The Cleveland Browns are, of course, in the middle stages of a quarterback competition that has pitted Deshaun Watson against incumbent starter Shedeur Sanders, with neither having been all that impressive over the course of the offseason and into the early stages of training camp in Berea. In fact, things have devolved enough that presumed third-stringer Dillon Gabriel is getting more reps, as he has looked more efficient than the two presumed starting candidates.
But there was a bit of surprise raised this week when NFL Network reporter Cameron Wolfe noted that head coach Todd Monken had already laid out a plan of action to sort out the Watson-Sanders standoff, and that he’d decided that the competition would last into the depths of August, with both quarterbacks getting a chance to start a preseason game.
Only problem is this: Monken says that is not quite what he told Wolfe in a conversation on Tuesday.
Browns Planning on Starting Both QBs in Preseason
The Browns have their preseason opener against Chicago on August 15, then play again on August 22 in Buffalo against the Bills. Monken, in the early stages of his time on the job in Cleveland, indicated he hoped to pick a starter before training camp. Now, it looks like training camp will be mostly complete by the time that happens.
Here’s what Wolfe said on Tuesday on the NFL Network:
“Monken just told me a few minutes ago, he is going to start one quarterback the first preseason game, and the other one will start the second one and most likely, the leader of the competition will start the third. So, this week, the next week will decide who gets each of those games.”
Todd Monken: Browns to Split First 2 Starts
But Monken spoke to the Cleveland media on Wednesday and said that Wolfe was not quite right in how he framed the Browns quarterback decision.
“Cam took a little liberties with what our conversation was like,” Monken said. “Basically, we talked about how our quarterbacks were going to play in the preseason. And obviously, if it’s still a competition at that time, why wouldn’t you start one and (then) start the other? And then we would go from there. That’s really what the the conversation was. He wasn’t wrong in what we talked about, which, you all have known that, they’re gonna play in the preseason. Someone is gonna have to go out there for the first snap, thus they would be the one that starts.”
Todd Monken Wants 1 QB to Separate
The news was reported widely around Browns media, but Monken was basically suggesting that it was wrong to frame it as news–he said he has told local reporters before that each quarterback would get a start for the team.
Monken did not necessarily dispute another part of Wolfe’s Browns report, though, in which he said that the coach wants one of the potential starters to start making themselves clear as the best candidate.
Said Wolfe: “(Monken) said this about the quarterback race: I want one of these guys to make it clear to me, make it clear who is the guy with their play. He’s been very impressed with Shedeur Sanders over the last four months and how he has grown, particularly with the operation. But he still has some room to go.
“He said his challenge for Shedeur is to get in and out of the huddle a little cleaner, be a little faster with your decision-making so me as a coach, I don’t have to have anxiety coaching you. As far as Deshaun Watson, he has got to take care of the ball better, he has had six interceptions at this stage of training camp.”
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